Archive for the Moses Category

This web post was motivated by an article in the LA Times, “Ten Commandments slab toppled” (June 29, 2017) regarding a newly installed monument on Arkansas capitol grounds and literally forced it upon all people.

Once again a few overzealous religionists who have inserted themselves into US political offices (as in Arkansas) keep trying to prove to God that they are higher caliber believers by trying to impose their beliefs upon everyone else. Case in point, a multi-ton monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments placed on the Capitol grounds in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, refer to the alleged injunctions conveyed by god to the Hebrew “prophet” Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:1-25). This priest-written legend served as the basis for Mosaic Law of the Hebrews and is contained mainly in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament.

The Arkansas Republican Senator, Jason Raperi, who sponsored the Ten Commandments Monument Display Act, spoke of the “history” that the monument allegedly represents. Unfortunately, what he referred to as “history” is more accurately religious tradition which is based solely upon priestly writings penned two or three thousand years ago–a timeframe in which it was common belief that Earth was the center of all Creation.

The timeframe generally accepted for Moses’ birth is c. 1576 BCE., but mythic characters are suspiciously hard to track down and other birth dates have been suggested. Moses is speculated to have been around 80 years old when he trundled off to the Sinai rendezvous with god. That would have apparently happened around 1500-1486 BCE if we use that accepted speculated birth date. Even earlier and during that period of time our solar family (especially Mars and Earth) was being buffeted by electromagnetic instability caused by the passage of a planet-sized comet’s movement through our solar system. In that generations-long time span many great cities of the world fell in ruins. The royal city of Ugarit, for example, was destroyed by fires; Troy, Knossos, even the great walled cities in the Indus Valley were destroyed; and many of the Phoenician trading partners with the Hebrews fell into decline due to the disturbances to Earth’s rotation. That instability did not abate until the 8th century BCE. The Roman Empire historians such as Pliny the Elder and Lucius Annaeus Seneca wrote about those earlier events and how interplanetary lightning exchanges had totally destroyed the “entire richest town in Tuscany.” Seneca drew directly upon Etruscan records for his accounts.

Verifiable history c. 2600 BCE. (in the Age of Taurus 4380 BCE – 2220 BCE) A ruler of Sumer (oldest known recorded civilization), named Urukagina, found so much immoral activity in his kingdom that he found it necessary to crack down on it. The king had a monument erected upon which was inscribed a long list of laws. A few of the injustices that Urukagina addressed included the unfair use by supervisors of their power to take the best things for themselves, the abuse of one’s official position, and the practice monopolistic groups to extort unbearable prices. Sounds like USA-styled Republicans were at work even then. This monument is regarded as the first ever recording of social reform, and it was founded on a noble sense of freedom, equality and justice. Interestingly, King Urukagina claimed that the laws were given to him by the god Nannar.

Approximately 875 years later (c. 1725 BCE, (in the Age of Aries) the Babylonian ruler, Hammurabi, would decree a similar code from which the Hebrew/Jewish myth of Moses and the Ten Commandments would in turn be fashioned. On the Babylonian monument Hammurabi was depicted as having received the laws directly from the god Shamash. The laws are noteworthy in seeking to protect the weak and the poor against injustices at the hands of the rich and powerful. Aah, if only those ancient gods were hovering over the United States Republican Party today.

Back to religious traditionEven priest-written scriptures admit that what we today know as the Ten Commandments are not as were allegedly given as instruction to Moses (Exodus 20). Biblical myth-makers adeptly covered this by saying that Moses broke the first list in a fit or rage when he returned to his followers and found them worshiping a golden calf (a hangover from the Age of Taurus). The second version of Commandments (Exodus 34) which Moses supposedly received (and which believers have long accepted as holy instruction) concerned entirely different matters, that being moral conduct, not Creation powers and how to use them.

The character of Moses is anchored in the Age of Aries (2220 BCE – 60 BCE) when the Ram/Lamb became the prime icon of faith. As a crafty way to indicate that the priestly tale did not give credence to prehistory teachings of Creation/cosmology once given using groups of stars (constellations such as Taurus) as inspiration the priest writers had Moses destroy the original teachings. These wily men who set themselves up to dispense the Creator’s orders for proper conduct then did what every cult and secret order group does: they first establish the rules of their “faith.” Thus the first three “commandments” allegedly given to Moses just happen to be about submitting and obeying an institutional system as conducted by self-certified administrators.

Of the Ten Commandments the first three (or four in some faith versions) stand out as operational demands made by any cult operation. 1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 2) Thou shalt not make unto them any graven images. 3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And in some versions: 4) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. These initial “Commandments” are clearly a pledge of adherence (submit and obey) to the authority of the priests, pastors, etc. more than they convey any godly enfolding or enlightenment. As for the rest of the seven (or six) remaining Commandments, the bulk are predominately couched in negative terms of “Thou shalt not.” How is this lack of constructiveness in any way spiritually empowering? Aah, if only religious faith systems were bound to a Truth In Advertising commandment.